402 NATATORES. 



Though we are too little acquainted with the straggling 

 ones for knowing much of their habits, and the nesting- 

 places of some of them are unknown altogether at least to 

 writers on Natural History yet it is tolerably apparent 

 that the terns may be divided into a sort of three groups, 

 or perhaps even four, the first finding their food chiefly by 

 fishing on the inland fresh waters, more especially during the 

 breeding season, like the marsh gulls ; the second discursive 

 over the larger inland waters ; the third breeding amidst the 

 marshes, but catching insects and spiders as well as fish ; 

 and the fourth more of sea or shore birds, and, like the 

 generality of these, laying their eggs upon the beaches and 

 flats near the sea, and especially on the smaller islets. 

 The last are by far the most numerous, and are those which 

 belong more particularly to the ornithology of the British 

 islands, though one of the native birds, at least, is a marsh- 

 breeder, and two or three of those which are discursive 

 over the inland waters, occasionally make their appearance 

 in the country. These are all, or nearly all, birds of the 

 east of Europe and west of Asia ; for, although they have 

 sometimes been confounded together, it is not clearly ascer- 

 tained that any of the marsh species of America make 

 their appearance in this country. The localities which 

 they inhabit on that continent, and those in the east, are 

 so different from each other, that one can hardly suppose 

 them to be inhabited by birds of the same species, any more 

 than covered by the same species of vegetation. These birds 

 are, however, good indexes to many other circumstances in 

 the natural history of the countries in which they breed, and 

 over which they range ; and, therefore, they deserve to be 

 more intimately studied, and studied more in connexion with 

 the rest of nature, than they have hitherto been. Even the 

 bird which comes only accidentally has a story to tell, if we. 



